Chapter 7- Hagrid the Suspicious

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Hi, I know this is late but you wouldn't believe how much work I'm doing! Oh and I went away to the beach for the weekend…why do I always give excuses, as if you care! I know this chapter is a little dodge…go with it.

Disclaimer: I got frustrated trying to add Hagrid's accent into the tiny bit he's in this chapter. I couldn't have written the real thing because he's in it a lot!

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It was Sunday afternoon three weeks after Ginny and Draco had first become attached when Ginny suddenly realised that she hadn't been to see Hagrid in all that time. Knowing how sensitive he could be about being ignored she slammed down the book she had been reading causing Draco to look at her enquiringly. She quickly explained to him that Hagrid was a very close friend to her and that she had to go and see him immediately and apologise to him.

"Virginia, its freezing outside. Don't be stupid. He can wait until it's a bit warmer…say Summer?"

"Pass me my cloak." Ginny ordered ignoring his less than enthusiastic response to her suggestion.

With a sigh Draco obeyed and, with a little thrill, Ginny realised she had won.

They wrapped themselves up in their cloaks and strode down the lawns to his cabin, Draco complaining quietly to remind Ginny that he was less than impressed with their destination. Hagrid welcomed them both in cheerfully although his eyes flickered to Draco more than once in a sort of panicked way. Draco smirked back and Ginny hit him on the arm and told him to behave. They settled themselves by the fire in two of Hagrid's huge armchairs and the half-giant himself bustled about making tea.

"You haven't been ter see me much recently Ginny." He looked darkly at Draco and continued, "But 'Arry told me all about yer troubles with this one" he pointed at the Slytherin with a butter knife "an' I totally understand."

"Well that's really why we're here Hagrid." Ginny said taking the mug of steaming tea he offered her with a smile. "I suddenly realised I hadn't seen you in ages and so here I am."

"With yer little tag along an' all." Hagrid added shoving Draco's tea at him then settling himself with his own mug in another chair.

They chatted aimlessly for a while but eventually the conversation turned around to their forced imprisonment. "Are yer sure Dumbledore can't 'elp yer?" Hagrid asked for approximately the fifth time.

"Positive." Ginny assured him.

Hagrid receded into his chair and stroked his beard. "Well it seems like yeh are in a bit of a pickle, unless…nah I can't put yer in that kind of danger."

Draco's ears pricked up, he had been silent for most of the visit but listening closely as he always did. Ginny also seemed keen to hear the end of Hagrid's story and she leant forward.

"Hagrid?" she asked pleadingly, "Do you know something? Something that could help us get out of this mess?"

"Well I don't really know if I ought to tell yer as I know yer'll just rush stupidly in without thinkin' things through and yer could get seriously hurt." Hagrid said warily and Ginny bit back a groan of impatience.

"Hagrid we have got to get free, this" she shook her right wrist at him, "is driving us insane. If you have anything, anything at all please tell us and I promise you we will be sensible."

"I know you will be Ginny but…" Hagrid trailed off but both the students knew what he was going to say.

"But its me, isn't it?" Draco said wearily, "Look Hagrid I won't do anything to put either one of us in danger, I swear."

"An' what's that worth, eh?" Hagrid asked, "The word of a Slytherin."

Draco's eyes narrowed with hate and Ginny hastily intervened. "We can trust him Hagrid, we've been getting along fine and everything for the last few weeks. Honestly, and you said yourself you trusted me, so help us out here."

"Yer wouldn't be in this mess if he hadn't done you wrong in the first place." Hagrid pointed out and Draco sighed. Ginny placed a placating hand on his arm then continued to talk to Hagrid.

"There are details to that too but it doesn't matter. If you trust me and you want me as far away from this jerk as possible tell us what you know."

This seemed to have done the trick. Hagrid was willing to do anything to get Ginny away from Draco and he leaned forward and told them all he knew.

***

"Well it's not really much to go on is it?" Draco pointed out when Hagrid had finished his tale. "You think there is some wise woman in the forbidden forest who might be able to help us out."

"It's more than we had before." Ginny reprimanded him then she turned to Hagrid, "You said she doesn't often allow visitors is there anything we can do to soften her up?"

Hagrid shook his head, "'Fraid not Ginny. But she likes young 'uns so yer have more of a chance with 'er than I would."

Ginny sighed, "What's with the creatures in that forest? It's somewhat creepy the way they like children but not adults. But we have nothing else so I guess we're going to go into the forest and ask, Esmerelda was it?, to sever the magic."

Draco nodded slowly, "Loathe as I am to approve of any of your ideas Virginia, it seems this is the only plan we have so I agree. We'll go see this Esmerelda witch next Saturday and ask her to use her magic to separate us."

Suddenly the familiar feeling of loosening around their wrists began and Ginny's eyes flew to Hagrid's clock.

"It's 7 already?" she said in surprise, "I guess we'd better go back up to the castle Draco, come on." She hurried out the door and Draco stood up to follow her, however Hagrid's huge hand caught him by the shoulder and held him back.

"I'm not a huge fan of yers Malfoy," He said gruffly, "but I can see that I've got no other choice so I'm gonna ask yer a favour."

Draco looked at him suspiciously but motioned for him to continue, "You keep an eye on Ginny. The dark forest is a dangerous place and I'm trusting yer with 'er safety. Keep her close and keep her from 'arm, that's what I'm telling yeh." Hagrid instructed solemnly.

Draco looked at him seriously for a moment than he nodded curtly and marched out of the hut without looking back once.

***

Ginny rolled over and slowly opened her eyes. Sun streamed in through the infirmary windows and she stretched contently. It was Friday, her favourite day of the week and the day before her and Draco would journey into the forbidden forest to seek Esmerelda. Hagrid had described her as a beautiful but cruel woman who would help them only if she felt that their need was great enough. Would her little problem of teenage angst be classed as worthy enough? Ginny wondered but decided she must remain positive. Her eyes focussed on Draco. He was lying on his back staring at the ceiling.

"Morning." She yawned sitting up slightly the better to see him. Draco didn't respond or shift his gaze from the ceiling. "Good morning Ginny how are you this fine day?" Ginny said sarcastically, "Well I'm just fine Draco, thank you for asking." She answered herself throwing him an irritated look. There was silence for a moment then Draco said quietly,

"It's my birthday."

Ginny's jaw dropped and she gaped at him.

"What?" she asked, bewildered.

"I said it's my birth…"

"Yeah I heard you, I guess I meant, huh?!" Ginny said her mind racing frantically trying to dig up some indication he had given her that today was his special day. Finding that she couldn't remember him telling her anything about it being his birthday she asked "How come you didn't tell me?"

"I only just remembered." He answered truthfully.

"You what?! Typical bloody Slytherin reaction, you just remembered!" Ginny propped her head up with her hands and looked searchingly at him. "Draco you can't tell me that you forgot your birthday, that's just ridiculous."

Draco sat up causing the covers to fall off his bare chest, he stretched and stood up. Running his hands through his rumpled hair he sighed then reached down and pulled Ginny to her feet so he could continue his stretches unhindered.

"Ridiculous or not it's the truth." He said simply.

Ginny shook her head in amazement

"What are you going to do?" she asked following him across the room as he gathered up his uniform.

"Get dressed." He answered, holding out his clothes as proof.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." she said crossly putting her hands on her hips.

"Fine then what did you mean?" he asked wearily.

"What are you going to do to celebrate your birthday?" She asked clearly and slowly, pointedly spelling her meaning out.

"Nothing." He said shortly, rummaging in his trunk for his tie.

Ginny reached out and stilled his hands, covering them with hers.

"Stop that for a minute and look at me." She instructed. He turned and faced her.

"Virginia, its nearly 7, get your stuff together." He said coldly.

"You're not going to do anything for your birthday?" she pressed, unwilling to let the matter drop.

"No I'm not. Birthday's are for chirpy little Gryffindors who like to jump around and do the same cliché things such as throw surprise parties everyone including the person whose birthday it is knows about and bake big cakes that no-one really likes as they are always too dry. I think I'll pass on that nonsense now will you please get ready?" Draco said stolidly.

Ginny stood silently for a little while longer than she said quietly:

"Draco?"

"WHAT?!" he yelled obviously fed up

"Happy birthday." She said in a very small voice. Draco closed his eyes briefly then opened them and looked at her calmly.

"Right, fine. Let's just get on with today, alright?" Ginny nodded but he could still see the confusion and pity in her gaze

***

Ginny didn't mention the fact that it was his birthday for the rest of the day and Draco certainly didn't bring it up. However, as they climbed into bed that night she reached under her pillow and brought out a small card.

"What's that?" Draco asked without any real interest as he attached a letter to the leg of his owl.

"Um, a card for you." Ginny said timidly, holding it out towards him and hoping that he wouldn't explode at her. His eyebrows drew together in confusion and he took it from her hands hesitantly as if he thought it was a bomb about to go off.

"I thought I made it clear that I don't celebrate my birthday and if this is a howler I will not be amused." He said crossly but Ginny looked so hurt by this that he closed his mouth and looked down at the card. The front was completely blank. He turned it over to see if he had it facing the wrong way but the back was the same.

"I didn't know what to put on it. You aren't exactly the sort of person who has in-depth discussions about their hobbies and interests, especially with me. You're not angry are you?" she asked worriedly.

Draco shook his head with a smirk at the idea of Ginny sitting trying to think of something he would like on the front of a card then opened the card. Something black and soft fell out as he did so but he ignored it as he was intrigued by the two words written inside it.

Love Ginny x

"I couldn't really think of a message to put in I didn't want to put happy birthday as it's obvious it's not really something you would like. Then I thought maybe I should put Dear Malfoy, but let's face it, you aren't particularly dear to me and I couldn't put your last name in a card. However, I couldn't put Draco because that isn't really your name. It's like your parents had always planned on calling you Malfoy Malfoy but the hospital insisted they give you a first name and they chose one at random. Don't you think so?" she trailed off hesitantly as she realised she was rambling..

He stared at her for a moment and then down at the card for a while longer then asked:

"What does the x stand for?"

Ginny laughed and shook her head as a blush graced her cheeks.

"Well it represents a kiss, like a circle is a hug but that's just always how I sign my name. It's not like I'm actually sending you a kiss or anything. I mean everybody does it but it definitely doesn't mean that I want to kiss…"

"Yeah I got it." Draco said with a small smile. It was only then that he turned his attention to the object which had fallen out of the card. It was a glossy, pure black feather.

"What's this?" he asked holding it up for her to see.

"A Raven's feather." She said then, seeing his confused expression, she explained further, "Don't you remember that first day when you helped me out and we started being half way decent to each other?" he nodded and she finished, "Well you told me it was a raven's feather not a robin's and it was the first sign you gave me that you were human. Then you proceeded to ruin my romantic image of you being made out of blood and bone like the rest of us by being a complete git."

Draco rolled his eyes then tucked the card and feather into his trunk.

"Whatever you say Virginia. Now don't forget tomorrow we're going into the forest…"

"As if I could forget." Ginny interrupted, her voice a little bit high with nerves.

Draco looked at her in concern. You're not going to back out on me now are you? Following that oaf's advice was your idea in the first place." he reminded her but Ginny, spurred to replace her nervousness with anger at his insult of her friend, shook her head.

"No way, I want this just as much as you, in fact even more."

"Right well tomorrow morning then." he confirmed turning away from her and closing his eyes.

"Yeah, tomorrow." Ginny echoed worriedly. Then she picked up her wand and with a quick flick of her wrist extinguished all the candles and plunged them both into darkness.

***

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Ergh, hate this chapter but I needed to get something up. Thank you very much to:

Toriisen: Well if you didn't think the last one was rushed you'll certainly see that this one is! I like your counselling of Harry, very nice of you! Thank you for reviewing.

Meena2: Thank you, you're an awesome reader!

Charmed-Goddess-07: Yeah I thought I had better throw some more Harry in otherwise the whole concept would become a bit suss! Yay for Draco's cheerleader! Draco falls a bit closer to snapping point in this chapter, hope you liked. Thanks for continuing to review and inspiring me to continue.

SarkLover: No I had no idea that Elijah Wood was sometimes called Monkey. I'm all interested now, what did he say about the Mardi gras? A lot of people seemed to like the schedule and habits knowing between them. If you think about it though if you were with someone almost continuously you couldn't help but get to know them could you, even if you (supposedly) hated them! Thanks for the review, more monkeys for you!

Jessiebear: you always seem so excited and that makes me happy! Here's some more for you, continue to be happy, unless you hate the chapter in which case I give you full permission to be unhappy about it!

 LiTtLe-bLaCk-sTaR: I liked the attack too. It was fun to write, certainly. Be assured there will be more of the Gryffindors in later chapters, they're somewhat important to the plot. What plot? I hear you ask! Anyway thanks for reviewing.

Ash Night: I am happyful you read my story too! Thanks a lot, sorry for making people in the library think you're weird but I have to be proud that I made you laugh out loud…and I didn't even think that bit was particularly funny! Thanks for continuing to review.

Doyle'sangel: Thanks, sorry I didn't really obey you but at least here's something at last! Thanks.

MelissaAdams: You don't have to apologise for anything. I hope your move went well and you didn't lose anything (if you didn't you have broken the most integral rule of moving, congratulations. If you have lost something take comfort in the fact that you're not alone!) Thank you for continuing to read, even if you don't have time to review.

Joco94: Great writing talent seems to be pushing it a bit far! But thanks anyway! I promise you that kissing and love will happen, eventually, lol. Thank you for reviewing…twice.

DazzilinAngel555: Awesome, huh?! Thanks very much. Here is an update for you…took a little longer than expected, sorry about that.

Mrs. H: I'm so glad people are seeing this story as a bit of a giggle. It's like that to write too. Thanks for reviewing.

Riotgirl-gc: Awesome is such a fantastic word and in association with my story its even better. Thank you! Which other story of mine did you read? Whichever it was it was rubbish and this one is better in my opinion. My first attempt was woeful but you learn don't you?! Thanks for reviewing, unfortunately you've given me a huge head! I'm unlikely to become an author but if I do rest assured you will be mentioned in my dedication! Get off your hands and knees, it's here!

Bigreader: EEEK! Poor Harry! I'm not a huge fan of him but killing him would ruin the happy-go-lucky aura I've created. But just for you: 'Finally Draco had had enough. As Harry approached them across the great hall he pulled out a bazooka and blew Harry away. The end!' No kiss this chapter…give it time! Thanks for reviewing.

Thank you to everybody who read this chapter now it would be lovely if you reviewed too!

Smiles,

Jess/star123

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