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A steady stream of students poured out of the train when it finally arrived at the Hogwarts station. Harry smiled nostalgically as he watched the first years being rounded up by whom he assumed to be the grounds keeper. The man was of average height and had an unusually loud voice. Beside him, sitting peacefully with it's tongue lapping the air, was a large creature that looked like the love child of a komodo dragon and an actual dragon. Hagrid would have loved to play with it.

Hagrid, Harry felt a pang, remembering the death of the gentle half-giant. It had been amoung the worst he witnessed throughout the war. Painful and slow. Hagrid was literally ripped limb by limb when he fought to save a group of muggleborns. Harry quickly blinked away the tears forming in his eyes before they could fall. The memories of death and lonliness flooded his mind even as he tried to focus on the present rather than the past.

"'ey there, you olright?"

The familar voice snapped Harry out of his memories to stare up at the hulking mass of muscle holding a trunk over their shoulder. There was no mistaking it. Hagrid. Young, beardless, and with different coloring than before. But it was Hagrid, without a doubt. His hair, oddly enough, was a dark blue that clashed with his yellow eyes. 'Yellow eyes?' Harry wondered in his mind, 'could he be a werewolf in this dimension?' He hoped not. The werewolf virus would strengthen his giant genes. Did he still have giant blood in him?'

"I..I'm fine." the kid in front of him mumbled softly, but Rubeus was sure that he wasn't telling the truth. For some reason, the half-giant felt as though he should know him. His face was vaguely familiar, as if he had once seen it in an old picture or in passing through the streets. The kid looked really young and fragile, though Rubeus wasn't one to judge after all he was 11 years old and people often thought he was much older and a mindless brute due to his parentage. Not that he could blamed them, his height and muscles were very misleading.

"De name's Rub'us." said Rubeus, deciding to introduce himself as he gently steered the boy to where the carriages for the upper years were. "I seen you lookin' likes yous 'bout ta cry, sure yous olright?"

"Yes, just some homesickness." Harry lied as he fixed his sight on the skeletal horses hooked to the carriages.

"Real beauties, ain't they." Rubeus glanced down at the boy, "I don' know many people tha can see em. Bu' you can, right?"

"Yes," Harry admitted, though sometimes he wished he couldn't see them. That he could have stayed ignorant and not become the broken mass of anger he was now. "Lovely, things they are. Much like hippogriffs, with their hostile appearance yet docile and noble nature."

"Aye," Rubeus agreed wholeheartedly, a grin on his face as a giddiness filled his stomach at the knowledge that there was someone who also loved misunderstood creatures. The butterflies squirmed more and more as the made their way to the castle. By the time he and Harry stepped through the doors Rubeus was convinced that he had just made a life long friend.

"Mr. Hagrid." sneered a tall and, oddly, handsome man as soon as Harry and Rubeus stepped off the carriage. "What, pray tell, are you not with the rest of the first years? Do you think that you are to be given deferential treatment because the Headmaster has allowed a half-breed like you to enroll at Hogwarts?"

"NO!" yelped Rubeus.

"Please pardon him," said Harry, squishing down his irritation and putting on a sheepish face. "It was my fault. I was feeling faint and Rubeus was kind enough to accompany me on the way here."

"Oh, Mr. Faerwindle, I do hope you are better." The man's tone completely different than before. "It would be a shame if you were to fall ill. I suppose I will overlook the half breed's stupidity, just this once."

"Thank ye, 'fessor." Rubeus said. His face red from the humiliation that the man was putting him through in front of his new friend. What if Harry didn't want to talk to him now that he knew that Rubeus wasn't fully human.

"It is thank you, professor Darnsley." Darnesley sneered, his nose tilted up as if he smelled something bad. "Speak properly and enunciate your words."

Harry balled his fists, nails digging into the soft flesh of his palms. "Professor Darnsley, may we be excused. The sorting is about to start and Rubeus, as a first year, must be present."

"How thoughtful of you, Mr. Faerwindle. Of course, you may." nodded Darnsley. "Have a pleasant year, Mr. Faerwindle."

The two students watched the professor leave. The dark purple robes the man was wearing flared as he gave a sharp turn and entered the castle. Harry sighed heavily and wordlessly followed, pausing only when he noticed that Rubeus had not moved. The larger boy had his head tilted down, longish blue hair covered his face, and his body was stiff. It was clear that the other wouldn't be moving anytime soon.

Harry watched, helplessly, as Rubeus started to cry. A rush of anger towards Darnsley nearly overtook the sympathy he felt. He could almost relate to what Rubeus was feeling. Before he knew about the Wizarding world, Harry didn't have any friends because his cousin Dudley would scare them away. And even at Hogwarts people were wary to approach him.

"I...I can und'stand if ya don' wan ta talk ta meh an'more." said the blue haired boy, his accent thickening as he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. "I can jus' wait a bit den go in, tha way no ones gonna thin' we's knows each o'er"

"What?" Harry looked confused. "Why would I want that?"

"Cause." mumbled Rubeus. "I canna 'elp me blood but I's dang'rous and scary and nah one wan's ta be ma friend cause I's bigga den dem."

"Listen," Harry placed a comforting hand on Rubeus' arm, "I won't turn my back and walk away. I don't care about that but of who you. You are a good guy. You're funny and nice. I... am proud to call you my friend."

A watery smile rose from Rubeus' lips, relief and hope making his eyes like liquid gold. Harry gently lead the larger boy to the great hall. Companionable silence and footsteps were the only things heard until they neared the large double door entrance of the great hall. The black haired fifth year nodded towards them and Rubeus, taking a deep breath, pushed the doors opened.

Fin

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